Most of us believe there are four key components to a successful rock band: guitarist, bassist, drummer, lead singer. Not true. Oh, sure, those four elements—particularly in the hands of gifted musicians—can carry a band a long way. Even as far as One Hit Wonder Land. Maybe even a little beyond.

But a successful rock band? That requires an essential fifth ingredient—and we’re not talking about a keyboardist. No, this particular ingredient is much more organic, and highly combustible: drama. And, preferably, a lot of it. Because if the history of rock ’n’ roll has taught us anything, it’s that with great drama comes great success.

Few musicians know this better than Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie. As members of Fleetwood Mac, they were front and center for both tremendous success and DEFCON 5-level drama, which included—among other things—affairs (and breakups) between band members. But while Buckingham and McVie were very much entangled in the … let’s call it interoffice romantic shenanigans, they were never entangled with one another. As McVie recently put it to Rolling Stone, “We are free of baggage.”

Which is why the duo decided to enter a Los Angeles studio—the same studio where some of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits were laid down—and create new music for the first time in 30 years. The result is the recently released, 10-song duets album simply titled Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, which also includes contributions from fellow Fleetwood Mac alums Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie (Christine’s ex) on bass.

Both Buckingham, 67, and McVie, 74, enjoyed the collaboration so much that they decided to support their album with a summer tour. No, the tour doesn’t feature any of their Fleetwood Mac partners, but Buckingham/McVie still offers fans an opportunity to see rock royalty—rock royalty with bloodlines that trace all the way back to … Walt Disney.

It’s true. At least in a six-degrees-of-Kevin Bacon sort of way:

1. Buckingham and McVie obviously partnered with legendary siren Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac (well, Buckingham partnered with Nicks in more ways than one, hence the high drama).

2. Nicks has collaborated in studio and onstage with Tom Petty, who in addition to having many hits with the Heartbreakers was a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys.

3. The Wilburys were a supergroup that also featured Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy Orbison.

4. Orbison, of course, wrote and recorded (in just 40 minutes, no less) “Oh, Pretty Woman,” the 1964 hit that Van Halen covered nearly two decades later, first releasing it as a single and later including it on their cover-heavy album, Diver Down.

5. Diver Down also featured a cover of “Happy Trails,” originally recorded by Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans, who were longtime friends of Gene Autry.

6. In addition to his many recording and acting accomplishments, Autry owned the Los Angeles Angels baseball club from its inception in 1961 until the mid-1990s, when he sold the team to the Walt Disney Company … which, alas, was founded by Walt Disney.

So there you have it: A Buckingham/McVie concert—it’s like a trip to Disneyland … minus the drama!

THE WEEKLY INTERVIEW: CHRISTINE MCVIE TALKS FLEETWOOD MAC RETURN AND BUCKINGHAM DUETS ALBUM
Image Buckingham and McVie team up at Park Theater on July 22. Photo: John Russo / Courtesy

Annie ZaleskiThu, Jul 20, 2017 (midnight)

Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie did something surprising this year: The Fleetwood Mac members released a duets album, Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie.

The Weekly connected with McVie in early June, a week before the album hit stores, to chat about revisiting old stomping grounds, rekindling creative connections and just how this record came to exist.

Obviously, you’ve made so many records with Lindsey Buckingham over the years. What was distinctive about the process of making this one? It happened sort of accidentally, but in quite an organic way. I’d sent Lindsey a couple of tracks that I’d written in my plinky-plonky way, with a piano, a drum machine and a voice. He sent them to his studio and did a bit of embellishment and arranged them and played them to me. He said, “Why don’t we go in and have some fun and just see if we can reconnect?” And of course, we did—instantaneously.

It was quite miraculous how that first week proved to us that this might be easier than we could have ever thought. When John [McVie] and Mick [Fleetwood] were in town, we asked them if they’d come and play with us. We did six or so new tracks, four of mine and two of Lindsey’s. We took the songs strung together and listened to them, and I thought, “We’ve nearly got a record here if we want it.”

We shelved them and started rehearsing for the Mac tour. Finished that—that was about two years—and then revisited those six songs and decided it would be quite fun to make a duets album.

What makes the two of you click so well as songwriters and musicians? Sometimes we don’t even need to say anything, he and I. We could just look at each other a certain way or nod, and somehow we could anticipate what we’re both gonna play, or react to the other person’s part.

It’s intangible. I don’t think we actually sat down together and co-wrote any of these tracks. We did, but not necessarily in the same room. There were bits from pieces of Lindsey’s takes of guitar ideas that he gave to me. I took them home and wrote melody and lyrics on them. And sometimes vice versa. It wasn’t like Elton John and Bernie Taupin at all. It was quite disorganized, really. We just had a ball.

What were your inspirations for the song “Carnival Begin”? It was a song I’d written about rejoining Fleetwood Mac. The words apply to exactly that journey, coming out of 16 years of retirement and back into the world of excessive rock ’n’ roll, fame, sparkly things. I just wanted to embrace that whole scene onstage, but with them. Because they’re all also such dear, dear old friends. They’re like brothers and sisters.

I saw you guys a couple times after you rejoined, and you looked like you were really having a blast onstage. We’re, to some degree, celebrating life. The fact that we’re all still alive. There have been no replacements. Even when I was gone, I wasn’t replaced. There was this reverent space where the keyboards used to be.

I also saw a Fleetwood Mac show when you weren’t with them, and though the playing was still wonderful, there was a difference. I think we all just compliment each other, because we’re such different writers. My contribution is the romance and the warmth. The love songs. Lindsey has his particular style of playing and writing, Stevie has hers. And then you combine all three voices when you start putting in harmonies and that incredibly powerful rhythm section. It’s a winner all the way around. People just love it. So do we.

“Game of Pretend” on the record is also one of yours. What was the inspiration behind that song? That’s about my therapist. He brought me out of the darkness into the light, from being quite chronically isolated—with a few more problems, to boot—to me starting to ask myself questions: “What do I want to do with my life? You’ve got to get to flying again.”

I’d been with him for two years and then he’d just become a great, dear, personal friend. It started off as a thank you to him. And then, as is wont with me, I sort of morphed it into a kind of love song. The choruses are sort of about him. It was a thanks to him for bringing me back into the world of the living.

You did some of the record at the LA studio the Village, where you’ve worked before. We recorded Tusk there, and Lindsey and I did our entire record there. We loved it. The sound in the room was unbelievable. We remembered it from back then, how great the sound was. And it just hasn’t changed a bit.

How did Mick and John help shape the sound of the new record? They have a specific style, and it’s very hard to define what that is. It’s all to do with where you place the beat, I’ve been told. It sounds like something you wouldn’t get in any other band, really. Having them on this record was magic. We’re so lucky we got them. But the band we have now is really amazing, too.

What will the shows on this tour be like? The purpose of going out to do this tour is to perform a lot of the new material, but we’re also going to do some old stuff. We’ll be playing a few well-known hits and a few lesser-known ones by Fleetwood Mac. I’m doing a song called “Wish You Were Here,” which is off the Mirage album.

We don’t want to start with the band slamming straight in, so Lindsey and I are going to sit down together and start the set with just he and I playing about four songs. And then the band comes in, and we start to rock ’n’ roll.

So much love and respect between Christine and Lindsey. And Christine is so beautiful! My Goodness, her eyes!

Lindsey talked about Christine's return to the band and how one day she decided she needed to pursue her creative side again, and of course he was more than happy to contribute to her songs. He emphasized the importance of continuing with the creative process when you're an artist.

There was so much humbleness in his speech!

I have some videos I'll share later.

Christine's dancing number while Lindsey plays and sings his songs is fantastic!

So much love and respect between Christine and Lindsey. And Christine is so beautiful! My Goodness, her eyes!

Lindsey talked about Christine's return to the band and how one day she decided she needed to pursue her creative side again, and of course he was more than happy to contribute to her songs. He emphasized the importance of continuing with the creative process when you're an artist.

There was so much humbleness in his speech!

I have some videos I'll share later.

Christine's dancing number while Lindsey plays and sings his songs is fantastic!

Thanks for the mini-review
Did you travel all the way from Argentina for the show?

Haha, I promise I'll be adding some more details as soon as I get more sleep. I'm on a bus on my way back to LA watching the sunrise over the mountains. Really beautiful.

Yes, I planned my holidays around FM/BuckVie. I was lucky enough to get Vegas, Phoenix and the Classic East all in the same week. Plus Queen. The things I do for my bands!

So glad you enjoyed it so much.

For me it's weird...my BuckVie show meant more to me than any FM show ever has. My favorite parts of my favorite band, doing something very special. Steering away from playing the same old stuff. Truly a night I'll never forget.

__________________
and Stevie Nicks was starting to lumber along like a sod-packed wheelbarrow.
And I'm David, not Homer!(we all should be able to change our name, at least once)

For me it's weird...my BuckVie show meant more to me than any FM show ever has. My favorite parts of my favorite band, doing something very special. Steering away from playing the same old stuff. Truly a night I'll never forget.

Thanks!

I know what you mean, and that's exactly what Lindsey was trying to communicate last night, I think. And that's why he looked so happy. Even though they have known each other and worked together for 40 years, this is a new experience for them and probably they never thought they were gonna enjoy it so much.

I'm happy for them because they looked truly happy. I guess no more ghosts running around Lindsey's head. No more voices haunting him.

Sorry for the delay in review. When I landed in Vegas, the airport had a huge BuckVie AD, as you entered baggage claim. That was very very cool!!

The House was full and it was a great show!! People were dancing up front which was sort of funny and nice to see. They were groovin.

Christine was in better voice than LB for this show. I think she is getting stronger and stronger. Hold Me was fantastic, as was Wish You Were Here. The new songs sound great! Crowd was singing new stuff! Lindsey's tone was good, he just wasn't in tune when he was harmonizing. It was driving me crazy. It might be payback for Christine's flubs early on.

She does play more keys than I originally thought. I could hear things that I couldn't hear on the youtube. She even plays some keys on Trouble.

It's amazing to see the difference of two people that really DO truly respect each other and don't have to fake it. Lindsey is so happy to have her on stage with him you can almost feel his emotions.

Overall, it stacks up against the very many FMac/solo shows. This set list is a nice balance for the die hard and the hit fans. However, the imbalance of LB to CM in the acoustic part of the set is very odd.

The best solo show I've ever been to was the 1984 Christine McVie show in Cleveland. They rocked the house! That show still stands number one to the many solo shows I've seen over the years. Great thing about these solo shows including the many Stevie shows I've seen. THEY'RE CHEAPER!

Me too. I've never seen them look so happy. I hope this leads to another project and/or another tour. We don't need no OGB!

Shhh! OGBh has her friends Don and Joe, who have endlessly talked **** about her in the past, but it doesn't seem to matter, not to her or to her fans. We all sing Happy Birthday and it's all forgotten.

They're like robots: if OGB adores Don and Joe, we adore them too. If OGB trashes Lindsey, we trash him too.